The directory «Plots»

Hammett Dashiell
(1894–1961)

American writer, b. St. Mary’s co., Maryland. After a variety of jobs, including several years working as a detective for the Pinkerton agency, beginning in the early 1920s he found success as a writer, largely originating the “hard-boiled” school of detective fiction. His stories, about 90 in all, are realistic, fast-paced, and marked by a certain sophistication and a merciless detachment. He was the creator of Nick Charles and Sam Spade, the latter being the original tough “private eye.” Hammett’s novels The Maltese Falcon (1930), The Glass Key (1931), and The Thin Man (1932), are considered classics of the genre; all were made into successful movies. Lillian Hellman, his companion of many years, wrote of their relationship in Pentimento (1973) and other autobiographical works.

Dominica, 1996, Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade

Dominica, 1996, William Powell as Nick Charles

Guyana, 1993, Sam Spade, Jett Rink

Guyana, 1999, «Yojimbo»

Mali, 1995, Mary Astor in «The Maltese Falcon»

Nicaragua, 1972, Sam Spade

USA, 2012, John Huston, «The Maltese Falcon»